Lessons
by Tallulah99
Summary: In the gloom of advancing twilight, he stalked her.


In the gloom of advancing twilight, he stalked her.

He had been with her from the beginnifng, shadowing her clumsy movements through his Labyrinth from the moment she set foot within its gates. He held back as she made her way through each twist and turn, observing only. The girl was unaware of his presence as he tracked her and he wanted to keep it that way…for now.

Her name was Ana. She was young – no more than twelve; her nose and cheeks still snubbed with the roundness of childhood. Jareth paused for a moment and invoked a crystal. In its depths he observed her. Her long dark hair and wide eyes reminded him forcibly of another dark-haired girl who had solved his Labyrinth so many years ago. He watched as she hesitated before the Darkened Tunnels. Three paths to choose from – one to continue on to the castle, one to the chilly confines of an oubliette and the third to come full circle, back to the beginning of the Labyrinth, costing her valuable time. Decisions, decisions…

One of the tunnels was merely a continuation of the path she was already on; stone walls lined the sides, another turn in the maze visible only a few yards away from the entrance. A second promised unearthly beauty – brilliant flowers and trees with fruits almost painfully beautiful to look at and oh so tempting to taste lined the edges of a worn dirt path under a bright yellow sun. The third tunnel offered nothing. A darkness of almost palpable intensity shrouded the entrance in mystery. Creepers and vines spilled along the mouth of the tunnel and climbed the outer walls, nearly blocking the entryway completely.

Jareth smiled softly to himself as the girl in the crystal squared her shoulders and took the most forbidding path. The gloom enveloped her slim form immediately as she crossed the threshold into the third tunnel. "Good girl," he murmured, pleased. She had figured out one of the most important tenets of traversing his maze – if it looked too good to be true...it probably was. The way was never easy in the Labyrinth.

A brief moment after she disappeared into the tunnel of Evernight, Jareth followed, allowing the chill of eternal darkness to settle over him like a cloak. He padded soundlessly on booted feet through the damp spongy undergrowth as he trailed behind her.

Night creatures sang in the endless shadows of the tunnel, crickets and frogs calling out to one another in the murk. A stream trickled tunelessly off in the distance masking any sounds the girl might make as she made her way through the world inside the tunnel. The Goblin King shortened the distance between them until he could see her ahead of him on the path, unwilling to lose her completely in the dark. His preternatural eyes gave him an advantage – he was as easily able to see her here as in the sunlight, but she had no such ability and he wasn't ready to let her take her chances if she wandered off the path into the marshes.

Several of the large rat-like creatures that inhabited Evernight scurried through the undergrowth, coming up short as they spotted their King so unexpectedly in their midst. He quirked a slanted eyebrow at them and held a finger to his lips, indicating the girl. The rats nodded silently and bowed low. He continued on and the pack turned their attention to the girl as she floundered blindly through their domain. They watched until the pair had disappeared from even their keen eyes and then chattered animatedly to one another as they skittered off into the marshes.

It was slow going. The soggy peat sucked at Ana's shoes making each step a laborious process. Night blooming vines and ferns smacked against her bare legs as she passed leaving her cold and dirty. Her pale face was smudged with grime, knees and hands muddy from spills as she occasionally caught her foot on rocks and tree roots, invisible in the cold darkness.

Once again, she stumbled, and fell forward with a cry. Kneeling in the muck on her hands and knees, her dark hair clinging wetly to her face, she took a deep shuddering breath. She was tired and hungry and filthy and wanted nothing more than for this day never to have happened. Tears slowly began to drip down her face.

She thought of her baby brother, tiny little Dane, only just four months old. She thought of how sweet he was when he wasn't crying and how his chubby little fist would wrap around her finger as she held him. She thought about how he smiled when she tickled his chin and how beautiful he was when he was asleep. Her heart broke as she thought of what her mother would say when she found out what Ana had done. She had asked her to watch over the baby while she visited a sick friend, but he had been so fussy! No matter what Ana did he just wouldn't stop crying. She hadn't Ireally/I been angry with him though. Wishing him away to the goblins had been a silly joke. She never thought that it would actually Ihappen/I.

She doubled over, burying her head against her knees as she sobbed. Pouring out all of her fear and frustration as she cried, she rocked back and forth in the dirt.

Moments passed and slowly her tears began to dry and her crying eased. Gradually she became aware that something had changed. She opened her eyes and realized – it was light. She lifted her tear-swollen face to see that she was no longer face down in the mud of the Evernight tunnel, but outside its dank confines, once again in the Labyrinth itself as the sun began to set over its high walls.

Sniffling, she sat back on her heels, and then she saw him. The Goblin King leaned carelessly against a pillar a few yards away. His feathery blonde hair glowed like a nimbus in the waning light. The expression on his face was carefully blank.

"Hello, Ana." His voice was cold. "You'll forgive me for the change of scenery, but I felt it was time we had a chat. Fond as I am of the Evernight marshes, I rather thought this might be a more appropriate venue for conversation." He strode towards her and crouched down to her level. "Having a good time, are we?"

"No," Ana replied thickly. She wiped her eyes and got to her feet. "Why are you doing this?" she implored.

"Why do you think?" Jareth cut his mismatched eyes at her sharply. "That's how this works as you well know. Someone wishes a child away to the goblins and I take them. You wished and I took. What is it that you don't understand?"

"But, da…"

"Ah, ah," he admonished, wagging an elegant gloved finger at her. "No 'buts'. You chose to say the words and make the wish." He tilted his head back and regarded her imperiously. "You must play by the rules just like everyone else."

"It was a joke," she said with a sniffle. "I didn't really mean it. I didn't really think you'd take him."

"You didn't mean it?" He raised an eyebrow and looked at her dubiously. "I must ask myself then," he went on, placing his fingertips on his lips thoughtfully, "why exactly you would make the wish, if you didn't 'mean' the wish." He cocked his head to the side and looked at her expectantly

"I…I was upset a…and he…he wouldn't stop crying and I just wanted to read my book…" she trailed off helplessly, feeling foolish.

"You wished your brother away to the goblins so that you could read a Ibook/I?"

She nodded miserably. "I really didn't mean it." She looked up at him, wide eyes brimming with new tears. "Please don't do it! Please don't turn Dane into a goblin! I'm sorry I made the wish. I swear I'll never do it again."

"A wish is a powerful thing," Jareth said seriously.

Looking at her feet she said, "I see that now".

"Do you?" the King asked and then shook his head. "No, Ana, I don't believe that you do yet." He curled a finger under her chin and forced her to look up at him. "But in time I am going to see to it that you do."

Stepping away from the girl, Jareth paced slowly, his gloved hands clasped behind his back.

Finally, he stopped and regarded the sad young girl with tender eyes. He sighed and relented. "Come here Ana."

She came towards him warily and stiffened as he stooped and wrapped her in his arms.

"It's okay," he said, laying his pale cheek on top of her head. "I am not going to turn Dane into a goblin."

She relaxed into his embrace and slowly returned it. "Really?"

He nodded into her hair. "Really. He's safe, as are you." He held her at arms length and looked down into her tear stained face. "Did you really think I would let anything happen to either of my most precious possessions?"

"Oh daddy!" Ana cried, and buried her face into the front of his shirt. "I'm so sorry! I didn't really mean to wish him away! Really, I didn't."

"I know, little firey. I know you didn't mean to." He cradled her tightly to his chest for a moment. "But, Ana," he pulled back from her so he could meet her eyes, which were mirrors of his own. "You do see why I allowed you to believe your wish had been granted, don't you?"

She nodded through her sniffles, fresh tears making tracks down her grimy face.

"Wishes have power in the Labyrinth and are not to be made lightly." He scolded softly, brushing away her tears and smoothing her hair away from her face. "You must understand the consequences. You could cause harm to yourself or someone else without meaning to and I may not always be able to step in. Do you understand?

"Yes, daddy."

"I control much of the magic of the Labyrinth, but not all, and an ill advised wish could cause damage beyond my abilities to mend." He sighed and pulled her back into his arms, holding her tightly – the relief of holding her again evident in his expression. "You have magic too, Ana – powerful magic – and one day you will learn to control it, but until you do – until it is in your complete control– you must take extra special care not to use it inadvertently."

"I'm sorry, daddy." Her voice was muffled into his chest. "Please don't be angry with me."

"I know you are," he soothed. "And I am not angry with you, but you will never do anything like that again, right?" He felt her nod emphatically and laughed. "Shall we go back to the castle now and see if cook can fix you up some dinner?"

"Yes, please."

"As you wish," he said with a smile and in the next moment, as the last vestiges of the sun dropped below the walls of the Labyrinth, father and daughter had vanished without a sound.

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Jareth entered the bedchamber quietly. She and the babe were likely already asleep.

"You're back."

He smiled. "Yes, we're back. Ana is in the kitchen being pampered by Grisa." He stopped at the divan to remove his boots. "I'm glad you're still awake."

She laughed softly and he realized she was trying not to wake the baby lying beside her on the large bed. "Well, I could hardly sleep while my only daughter faced the Labyrinth of the evil Goblin King for the sake of her brother."

Jareth finished with his boots and stripped down to his nightshirt.

"You would have been proud of her. She held her own right up to the Darkened Tunnels."

"You watched over her?" Sara couldn't help her anxious tone, though she knew it was far too late to be worried. They were both home safe.

"Every step of the way." Jareth soothed.

"I'm glad," Sara said with a sigh and then gave a soft chuckle. "Did she really think you would turn Dane into a goblin?"

"Of course she did," her husband replied haughtily. "I can be very convincing." He lay down on the bed facing his beloved wife, their young son asleep between them. Jareth reached out and touched the soft fuzz that graced the top of the sleeping baby's head. So far it promised to be like his own, a silvery blonde that shone in the dim light of the candles. "Besides," he went on, "I don't think it would make too much of a difference if I did. He's rather goblin-like already. He's little, fat, lazy and smells bad much of the time."

Sara snorted and gave him a gentle shove. "He must take after his father more than I realized."

Jareth smiled back at her fondly and touched her cheek over the body of their sleeping son. The child stirred between them and then relaxed again, his tiny body going limp with the pure abandon of infancy.

A/N: I am finally getting around to posting stuff that's been clogging my hard drive. This was written as a response to the 'Original Character' challenge in the Labyfic LiveJournal community _years_ ago. Procrastinate much?


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